Water is Thicker than Energon
by angelcakes19
Summary: Starscream is no longer a Decepticon. Taken in by the Autobots he, with his new sparklings, tries to rebuild his sense of self and to create a new home for himself in the wake of unforgivable betrayal and many months of soul-crushing abuse. Features mech-preg. Uncensored version will feature rape, consensual slash, threesomes, foursomes, multiple pairings and scenes of male birth.
1. Berthtime Story

_Author's Notes- Hi this is an accumulation of two massive AUs I have had in my head for quite a while. Uncensored version will feature rape, scenes of birth (resulting from m-preg sort-of) and various extremes of abuse._

_Bold- Comm link._

_Italics- Thoughts/memories/link speak._

_Pairings- Primarily Starscream with others, both consensually and not. Features slight Perceptor/Beachcomber. Maybe others. _

_Warnings- Rated M. Nothing really for this chapter just small hints at things. OC sparklings. _

___Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters._

___Verse- AU._

_Units of Time: Astrosecond- 1 second, Klik- 1 minute, Cycle- 1 hour, Orn- 1 day, Decacycle- 1 week, Meta-cycle- 1 month, Solar cycle- 1 year, Vorn- 1 million years._

_The sparklings are mine._

_Unbetaed._

_All mistakes are my own._

_Hope you all enjoy it._

* * *

Water is Thicker than Energon

Chapter One- Berthtime story

Three Seeker sparklings twirled and dove through the air; the rare sight of a naturally created trine playing drew the optics of more than a few Autobots as they passed, deep within their stronghold grounds.

One, crimson with streaks of white and a yellow mark above his spark chamber, cut through the air with particular skill. He, the most daring and outgoing of the trine, was easily the fastest of them and their destined leader in time. His future second watched on fondly with a quiet confidence, wings flicking in contentment. Primarily white in colour, he was the calmest of them and kept the other two out of trouble. Their third, the shiest and quietest, was almost entirely azure and nuzzled at his brother's neck as they watched the other tear through the sky as if trying to race the wind.

Sunswift, Moonlight and Serenity.

Eventually, the Cybertronian skies beginning to darken, the head of the trine returned to his brothers, colliding with them impishly and wrapping his arms and wings around them. Embracing him back, their bond shimmering with love and affection, they gradually made their way back to the ground.

Landing on a nearby bench to ensure they would not be accidentally stepped on, they waited for their creator to collect them chittering happily amongst themselves. They were interrupted by the sound of an argument nearby and, glancing up, they saw the only mechs even close to them in size apparently on the brink of attacking each other. A normally cheerful yellow mech- their creator had told them he was designated Bumblebee- was speaking quickly, voice higher than normal with worry.

Bumblebee was one of the few around base that the sparklings liked outside of their family, and the older mech was one of the precious few that their creator allowed to look after them. Unbeknownst to them as their creator had only asked it in passing when they had already entered the air; the minibot was currently their watcher, their protector, until their carrier came back for them.

A couple of them managed to shove past their friend, 'we're not going to _hurt _them. Just tell them a tale or two about their glitched cara.'

Crowding the tiny mechs, the minibots' optics gleamed maliciously. Sunswift stepped in front of his two brothers as their link became tainted with fear, quickly answered with reassurance and the message _I'm coming _from their carrier, as Serenity buried his faceplates in Moonlight's wing.

The faceplates of the smallest of the Autobots softened slightly, one reaching out to run a digit over Serenity's helm, only narrowly missing having it bitten off by the other two as they perceived the gesture to be a threatening one.

'Want to hear a story?' An orange and green mech, the one who had stroked Serenity, murmured.

'Not from you they do not,' a livid voice hissed dangerously from behind them, 'I will already be speaking to Prime about this, would you like to have to be put back together by Ratchet as well?'

The sparklings darted past the minibots and into their carrier's arms, clicking in upset that their playtime had been ended in such a way.

Starscream, Autobot symbols on his wings reflecting the fading sunlight as the appendages rose proudly, turned on his pede and, with a reassuring nod to Bumblebee, carried his hatchlings inside and to his quarters. Gait swaying with a forced confidence, he typed in his code, careful not to let any other see, and quickly entered his family's sanctuary.

Events had progressed far quicker than he would have liked, he would have preferred to keep things from them for just a little bit longer. He had tried to make sure that his little ones did not just hear and were saturated by Autobot propaganda- the faction being far less noble than it liked to imagine itself- but also his own beliefs as well.

How they would take the news that their creator was a former Decepticon, still one mostly at spark, was impossible even for him to guess. When they were old enough to hear the story in full did not bear thinking about.

Not that they ever _would_ hear it in its entirety, he would never allow such a thing.

Placing them on his berth after their bath not on their crib, which was a noticeable enough break in routine for them to look at him curiously, Starscream sighed softly through his vents, unable to meet their optics for a moment in his fear that they would never look upon him lovingly again. Caressing their energon-warmed frames, he knelt beside the berth to be at their level, digits petting his creation's wings and backs.

'You love your cara don't you?' He asked them in Seeker, a language they were more confident in than standard Cybertronian.

They beeped affirmatives, Sunswift leaping from the soft metal into the larger flier's chassis, the other two following an astrosecond later to be engulfed with their brother in their creator's arms.

Feeling their wings flick into his metal, their trust and affection coming easily in the link, the older Seeker leaned back, just holding them to him.

It was a marvel really, that they could give love so easily when even Autobots sometimes struggled, when even Starscream's own trine had done for their eldest wingmate.

'What do you three… think about the Decepticons?' He whispered, hoping he was not soon to lose them too. Another relatively new link stirred to life, tendrils from the two Starscream shared it with reached out into his spark to fill it with encouragement and comfort.

'The bigger mechs say they're bad,' Moonlight answered in the clicking nature of the Seeker's native tongue, 'they seem scared of them...'

'The Autobots and the Decepticons… do not like each other,' Starscream's optics drifted closed as his voice lowered, 'they hurt each other.'

Serenity twittered confusedly, 'doesn't Op-Op-'

'Optimus,' Sunswift spoke for his brother, small servo reaching out to land gently on his trinemate's wing.

'Doesn't he say it is bad to hurt others?' The smallest look up at his creator, optics glittering questioningly.

'Yes it is and you must not,' Starscream smiled, sending bursts of praise through their link. 'But sometimes adults do bad things that they should not, and when they do it can cause a lot of harm.'

They would find out one orn that their carrier had been one of the most feared mechs on Cybertron, for all he was mocked, that he himself had been what he had told them to never be.

A bully.

_But a victim too._

_That's why little ones like you have to do better than us; repair the damage we have all done and make sure it is not perpetuated._

Each faction had played its part in the damage done to Cybertron and neither was wholly good or irredeemably evil. Killing was still killing whether it was Megatron or Optimus Prime doing so.

The former Decepticon had heard it so often, like nails down a chalkboard to his audios, that the faction was evil because it had snuffed out the sparks of Autobots. Such a statement was so ignorant and hypocritical it almost made him scream as many Bots killed Cons brutally, openly enjoying it and taunting their defeated enemy as they did so.

Breakdown briefly sprung to processor, voices of perhaps half a dozen Autobots jeering at him as he stood frozen under their avid gazes. Never deactivating him, no, for then they would lose their convenient target given them on a silver platter each battle since the Stunticons were brought into being.

The Stunticons and the Aerialbots…

The perfect example of the factions causing identical damage with the same consequences, to label one as evil for doing so would be unreasonable. The actions of both factions could not be branded so simply as good versus evil; the universe was never so black and white.

But to a sparkling, ones who heard fabulous, but stereotypical, fairy tales of noble knights slaying hideous monsters and saving beautiful femmes. Could he make them see the subtle shades of grey, even on a small scale and without sullying their innocence which yet remained?

'You see, solar cycles ago, long before you were created,' Starscream's expression and tone remained light, hiding the true nature of the time, 'many were very unhappy. There was a mech, called Megatron, who became their leader. There was much boring talking in which nothing was ever done and then the two groups, one happy the others not began to fight over how things should be. They started to hurt each other and everything around them.

I was one of the unhappy ones so I joined Megatron and… his Decepticons.'

'You were unhappy?' Serenity's voice squeaked.

Starscream's optics brightened, 'yes but I'm not now. How could I be when I have the three of you?'

They purred in response, helms pushing affectionately into their carrier's chassis.

Sunswift's servo tapped his carrier's metal, 'cara, you were a D'con?'

'Yes,' Starscream crooned, 'but… Megatron and I did not get along, we could never be friends. We hurt each other often but as he was far stronger than me I always ended up worse. One orn he and two mechs I used to know hurt me very much. As the two mechs were my family then I stayed a bit longer, hoping they would love me again and, for a while, they seemed to. They were only tricking me though so I left the Decepticons and came here. Optimus agreed to let us stay and here we have remained ever since.'

He could feel both their curiosity and their tiredness in their link and he pressed at the latter. _You may ask me questions tomorrow, for now it is past your berthtime. Your sires will not be happy if they find you still awake when they get home._

The chirrs of three engines powering down briefly reached his audiosand he sighed in relief, fondly placing his creations in their shared crib, trines always resting better together than separately. They instantly curled up together as he laid a blanket carefully over them, their wings flicking lightly in recharge.

_Your sires…_

His new mates, both bonded and trine, were his little one's adopted creators. The ones who sparked them Starscream renounced as deactivated, severing all ties with them and forbidding them on pain of deactivation to see the sparklings, their link with the tiny trine being overridden by the ones who had adopted them with the former Decepticon's consent.

Until Megatron was gone, however, his treasured family would never be safe. Not just his mates and creations, but others like Bumblebee, the Aerialbots…

He had somewhat adopted the young fliers since his arrival, caring for them as he had tried to do for his Seekers in the beginning. They had been wary of him at the beginning, all of them had been and some still were. He could tolerate that, understand it, but he would not allow his sparklings to be the target of malicious words and actions.

He tried to avoid the politics of his new faction as much as he was able, though he helped in other ways, trying to pay back a debt Optimus insisted he didn't have. The Seeker needed to feel required, which Ratchet and Perceptor repeatedly assured him he was.

_Frag Megatron, Thundercracker, Soundwave… They could all go to the Pit._

_Skywarp…_

The flier's spark cringed, wings rising in agitation, and his melancholy was answered by two streams of love from his partners.

Slumping into his desk chair, he began to work distractedly at the tasks he was trusted with. As an Autobot medic and scientist, he was seldom permitted into the field, not because the Prime believed he would turn on them, but because there was always the possibility that Megatron would go after him specifically.

And if he fell, his sparklings would lose their carrier.

Blinking back optic fluid threatening to spill over and down his silver faceplates, Starscream leaned back against the supportive metal pondering things. How much would be right to tell the younglings and at what ages had been questions constantly cycling through his processor since the Autobot faction took him in.

Starscream didn't hear the door sliding open, processor full of responsibilities and anxieties, and so jumped when two sets of servos began to caress his wings. Soothed by their touch and the link, he allowed himself to be led to the berth, engines purring as his mates curled up on each side of him, their servos meeting on his chassis, over his spark.

His beautiful mates who had adopted flying alternate modes for him, had tolerated the painstaking process of learning to fly under his tutelage.

For them, he was good enough. For them, he was worth the effort.

Why couldn't he have been for TC and Warp? For Megatron?

Why did it still hurt?

Could it be a matter of wounded pride or the sting of betrayed confidence? Or was he simply glitched like most assumed?

The bond began to grow inside of him, around him it seemed like, cushioning him with its influence. Wings unfurling to protectively cover and warm his mates in gratitude and his own assurance of his affections, he returned the gesture happily in the link.

Beginning to trill softly, he eventually dropped into a calm recharge.

His mates, _always there right from the beginning, _soon followed.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and please review._

_At the moment, especially as I'm quite tired, I'm just going where my mind takes me. Many things have chapters started (off the top of my head- Regeneration, Misunderstanding, AA2, The Coven and one or two one-shots) and should be updated soon. AR has priority but there is one more verse (the one I mentioned in the ANs of Old Patterns) that may have a starting chapter posted soon._

_Also, I'm trying to get into writing slash scenes again (its why some fics have stalled slightly) so if you have any pairings/threesomes/multiples etc, Bot or Con or a mixture of the two, that you want to see, drop me a PM and I'll see what I can do._


	2. Old and New

_Author's Notes- Hi this is an accumulation of two massive AUs I have had in my head for quite a while. Uncensored version will feature rape, scenes of birth (resulting from m-preg sort-of) and various extremes of abuse._

_Special thanks to __The-writing-Mew__, __sakiko of soleana__, Naughtia, Iwanita, __Kitt SummerIsle__, __Blood Shifter2__, __Double-ports__, __SunnySidesofBlue__, __silveryn83 and Golden Eagle for reviewing, and to those who favorited, alerted and gave kudos. _

_Bold- Comm link._

_Italics- Thoughts/memories/link speak._

_Pairings- Primarily Starscream with others, both consensually and not. Features slight Perceptor/Beachcomber. Maybe others. _

_Warnings- Rated M. Nothing really for this chapter just small hints at things. OC sparklings. _

_Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters._

_Verse- AU._

_Units of Time: Astrosecond- 1 second, Klik- 1 minute, Cycle- 1 hour, Orn- 1 day, Decacycle- 1 week, Meta-cycle- 1 month, Solar cycle- 1 year, Vorn- 1 million years._

_The sparklings are mine._

_Unbetaed._

_All mistakes are my own._

_Hope you all enjoy it._

* * *

Chapter Two- Old and New 

Starscream woke before his mates, a habit he seemed unable to break, and stared at the ceiling.

He had grown used to watching inanimate objects, bland walls and ceilings, finding non-existent patterns and pictures. It had seemed quite often to be his only comfort when he had been alone. How strange it was that he had always so valued his privacy, thrived on and coveted it, but when he was forcibly isolated… It had come close to breaking him just by itself.

Skywarp's incessant chatter would occasionally echo in his helm, the younger flier babbling on and on about his orn while his wing fluttered against Starscream's battered and mutilated frame, a contented grin always on his faceplates as the slightly older Seeker... stared at the ceiling. Until the end, Starscream associated the purple and black flier with relative safety, a tendril of hope for him which he latched onto like a drowning man to floating debris.

Out of all of them it was probably the teleporter's betrayal which hurt the most.

Thundercracker's unfaithfulness had come to the fore much more quickly, and was present in a harsher form than it initially was for their third. The trine-leader may have passed it off as Megatron's poisonous influence but… the evidence of it had been there even before they joined the Decepticon faction, Starscream was simply rendered unable to see it.

Megatron…

The flier's optics fluttered closed as contrasting memories of impossibly cruel blows met those of patiently coaxing caresses.

There was a brief time for him of happiness with them, suddenly granted and just as jarringly snatched away, when the others spoke to him with warmth and touched him without causing harm. Then they grew impatient with him again, blood red orbs smouldering with increasing rage which he was blind to, forming a protective place inside his processor where only the good things could exist and be committed to memory.

The small, mostly mocking, morsels of praise he was given, the rare almost tender strokes…

It was not to last.

The first night, following the last orn of normality he had ever had, still caused bad memory fluxes in his recharge, the Seeker's new trine though was always there to reassure him, to hold and send pulses of love through the fledgling link; a far more natural one than he'd ever had before in that it was chosen by him and completely reciprocated without ever being denied.

When Starscream so forcibly rejected the bond he shared with his trinemates from creation, it was either find new ones to link to or face insanity and eventual deactivation. At the time the fragile flier would gladly have accepted the latter, if only for the hope that Primus would deem that any sin he may have committed had been sufficiently punished in his living function and the road to the Well would be opened to him. The Autobots were quite insistent however- despite his angered disbelief- that he was carrying and that, regardless of his own wishes, he was required to carry the sparks to term if possible.

The incredulity at the unfairness of it all had been overwhelming, Ratchet's words sending him spiralling into a fit of rage, destroying everything around him but, before anyone could reach and restrain him, Starscream had collapsed sobbing in the centre of the medbay. The CMO, bless his war-weary spark, ordered everyone to leave then cordoned the Seeker off so he could grieve in peace.

Cycles of walking, _walking, _to the Autobot base only to be denied the wish he'd had in going there.

Sighing quietly, careful not to wake the others, he tightened his grip on his new trinemates. They allowed Starscream to be trine-leader on merging to give him the control he needed to not feel trapped.

Only little over a solar cycle ago they were shooting at each other, now they shared a berth and they knew him probably better than the former Decepticon knew himself having dove deeper into his essence than he had ever dared to.

Slipping out from the berth, shimmying off the end silently, he crossed the room to his younglings. They were little more than hatchlings, their frames with Ratchet's assistance being developed slightly faster than would be normal in a pre-war situation. Of course had Starscream the choice he would never have had the little ones in wartime, the action contradicted his carrying protocols to _protect _the young. However, once in a calmer frame of processor he agreed to carry them and to try and do it well.

They were rare not just in that they were a product of rape, but that Starscream carried all three of a single trine. The norm being for three Seekers to be sparked bonded, yes, but to different carriers at a similar time. Starscream was several kliks older than Thundercracker who was in turn a full cycle older than Skywarp; the oldest being the leader by natural selection.

For his three, life could be difficult, it genuinely being accepted for trines to become bonded mates when they came of age as their sparks would often compel them to. As siblings, for one of them to bond their selected love would have to accept having an additional link to the two other brothers. Then again, Starscream never considered bonding with his trine, viewing them too much like siblings to do so, until the possibility was forced on him.

Starscream supposed it was the combined efforts of his former trine and their formidable energies forced into his that allowed his little ones to come into being how they had done. Or else, as there had been no other Seekers sparking at the same time as him, some divine influence had seen to it that he carried all three lives. A Seeker alone in their helm for a prolonged period of time was of course doomed to go insane after all.

Watching them recharge, occasionally glancing over at his loving mates, the Seeker's wings perked up as he snapped himself out of his melancholy thoughts. He had them, they were _his _and they were worth everything.

And he would be damned if he would allow anyone to harm them or take them from him.

* * *

A cycle later Starscream appeared at Bumblebee's door, the triplets in the safe care of their adopted sires and buzzed the intercom. The minibot, on however small a scale, was abused by his fellows for the amount he did for the former Con and the Seeker tried to make it up to the younger bot hence the tray of energon goodies in his servo.

It always surprised Starscream how big-sparked the little sunny bot was, his kindness easily rivalling his Prime's.

The Autobot smiled at him and retreated back into his quarters to allow the Seeker entrance. Despite himself, Starscream had found himself confiding things in the scout after his partly enforced, partly willing- out of necessity- defection.

His political views were not a secret and he was dubious to say the least of the sustainability of his new faction's eventual plans for peacetime but, as he said when on trial before Optimus's improvised Autobot Council, he _loved a challenge._

Given time, he was sure he could… _bend _their inflexible rules and ideals a bit. To make them, of all the ironies, more tolerant of those different from them (the faction's general treatment of mechs like Prowl and Sunstreaker had not escaped his notice) and less judgemental of those who seemed 'Decepticon-like'. At least try to help prevent the danger of a creation of an underclass which had led to their war in the first place.

If that happened even if Megatron was deactivated a new figure would rise among the oppressed and it would all start again.

A pointless end to the grand vision Optimus believed in.

Bumblebee took the proffered tray with a soft 'thanks,' and began to suck on one on the sweets. Starscream couldn't help but smirk, for a battle-hardened mech the minibot was adorable.

'I'm sorry about the others,' the scout murmured after he swallowed his treat, offering one to Starscream, 'the sparklings weren't frightened?'

'They were fine,' the flier dispelled Bumblebee's nervousness, waving his servo in a dismissive gesture. 'I cannot keep it all from them for ever.'

The minibot began to play with his servos, optics lowering to look at the ground, 'I won't tell them.'

'I know,' Starscream unsubspaced two cubes of energon and pressed one to the yellow bot's chassis. They clinked their glass cubes together and, as they sipped at their drinks, the mood began to brighten. 'So… a little bot told me about you and the twins and… a _storage closet_.'

Bumblebee choked on his drink, some even coming out of his nasal plates. Starscream grinned at him fondly as he blushed, faceplates glinting as they heated. _Still got it._

'So… were they any good?' Starscream's crimson orbs twinkled mischievously. The minibot had had a string of bad relationships of recent and the Seeker hoped Sunstreaker and Sideswipe treated him well or there would a line of mechs out for the twin's aft plating, including the flier himself.

The younger mech giggled, nodding happily and leaning back on his berth. 'They make me feel _warm. _Like nothing can hurt me when I'm sandwiched between the two of them.'

That was how a relationship was supposed to be and the reason that Starscream would defend it should the others try to spilt them up.

For a second the minibot's optics flickered with guilt but, when the former Decepticon just grinned, the flier's own orbs radiating nothing but casual contentment, Bumblebee relaxed again. Though it hadn't happened since the triplets were a few meta-cycles old, the younger Autobot still remembered Ratchet's warnings about triggers, how certain words and actions could severely upset Starscream and he never wanted to be the cause of that, especially having seen it happen.

The Seeker chuckled along with his friend, frame resting back in his usual chair. It was strangely nice to see the mechs of the Autobot faction forming bonds, solidifying their familial nature. Perceptor, his old partner back in the academy had spark bonded with a like-minded mech by the designation of Beachcomber, and seemed perfectly happy all things considered.

It took time for them to trust Starscream but once he proved his worth in numerous ways, many began to accept him, Bumblebee being one of the first to do so. The flier could still remember waking up after one of his many operations to find the younger mech shyly holding his servo, offering silent comfort.

At the time, silence was all the smaller bot could give.

Megatron truly had lost the way long ago and the cause, which once stood as unblemished as the Autobots pictured themselves to be, followed him down blindly.

But Starscream still firmly believed in the roots of the Decepticons; that its points were valid and credible ones that needed to be addressed regardless of who eventually won the war. All societies had lower classes, that in itself was unavoidable but it did not mean that those in the working classes should lack basic rights and means to live. That was little more than slavery and Starscream knew his minibot companion was lucky to have avoided the more unsavoury characters Cybertron had to offer once upon a time.

Pretty minibots often ended up in forced employment of one vile kind or another and it was sometimes easy to forget that the ones fighting the war had been trapped in those establishments because of the way they acted… Easy to forget that was _why _they were the way they were now.

In a sense they should have joined Megatron, they being the kind of Cybertronian he originally wished to help.

Bumblebee chattered to him about the twins, like Skywarp used to but so very different at the same time. The minibot's voice was welcomed and Starscream listened avidly to Sideswipe's latest idea for a prank, after promising not to get the mischievous mech into trouble of course.

He had always known when Skywarp was planning a prank, the purple and black flier never able to suppress the excited energy which came across the link, but he never said a word, never truly disciplined the younger flier for it. Behaviour like that he acknowledged was needed to keep morale up, to stop things becoming stagnant and unbearably depressive.

In amongst all the death there had to be some light, some fun, or they would all suffocate with grief.

The younger flier's voice grated on his audios but the minibot's voice was almost melodious, soothing, reassuring and above all friendly. Bumblebee was not a threat, simply a- much treasured- companion talking to him, not at him. Starscream knew beyond any doubt that the smaller mech would never seek to harm him or his loved ones.

When the younger mech paused for breath, his faceplates heated as he realised how long he'd been speaking, 'sorry for pulling a Blue on you.'

The Seeker's old cackle came briefly into evidence before he took Bumblebee's servos in his, 'if they hurt you I'll do a reformatting job that would make Ratchet proud. But as long as they make you happy I'll support the three of you.' Had he tried a speech like that before his sparklings separated from him, it would have likely come out stilted and insincere, but his little ones were re-teaching him everything he seemed to have forgotten over the vorns of fighting.

Bumblebee's azure orbs glowed, accepting the faintly possessive tone that was characteristic of the Seeker in these kinds of moments with mechs he held affection for.

The old fear of the flier's coming through that he might be abandoned again.

Squeezing Starscream's servos, Bumblebee thanked him and they sat animatedly chatting for over a cycle, chewing and sucking the treats the Seeker brought.

* * *

Miles away as the night cycle was falling, Megatron walked away from the two bound, broken Seekers that once made up two-thirds of his Elite Trine. Bathing in his personal wash racks just long enough to get rid of the fluids coating his frame, he exited the smooth-floored wet room and his berthroom to settle at his desk with a heavy sigh, ignoring the muffled sobs he could just hear from the adjoining room, to read Soundwave's reports.

Losing Starscream was a double-edged sword, the treachery the flier had always indulged in was gone but the Seekers had never been so difficult to control and motivate. Neither fear nor reward seemed to work…

Similarly, attempts to get Starscream back by coaxing or coercing him had not succeeded either.

The most up-to-date layout they obtained of the Autobot base had yet to yield anything of use. Cursing Red Alert and the glitch's obsessive protection of his comrades, the Warlord leaned back in his chair as his optics watched the shadows of his quarters.

If only he could get his servos on those little brats of Starscream's, the Seeker would be bound to do anything he wished to try and save them. However efforts there had proved equally as fruitless.

If only those two fools had not ruined everything they, all three of them, could have had what they wanted from his absconder of a second-in-command. The effort he expended in trying to rectify their mistake was infuriating; Starscream had been so close to what Megatron wished to mould him into that to have him snatched away just as he tasted victory left him in a perpetual state of anger, the scraps of metal from both sentient and insentient machines alike littering the floor bore silent testament to his earlier rages.

To catch Starscream now would mean starting all over again from the beginning, unless he could also capture the Seeker's beloved little ones- or his new mates- then the flier could be blackmailed into behaving rather than requiring being retaught everything.

The question was how to achieve either possibility.

The two Autobots Starscream had chosen were rarely on the field and, even before the flier claimed them, were heavily protected for a variety of reasons when they were needed to venture out. And yet they were a more logical target than the sparklings, perpetually kept in the deepest bowels of the enemy stronghold.

Throwing the useless pad from him as his thoughts began to run round in circles in his processor, Megatron stood and returned to his pets.

Though, as had taken them far longer than Starscream to learn, he was not a kind Master.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and please review._


	3. Music

_Author's Notes- Hi this is an accumulation of two massive AUs I have had in my head for quite a while. Uncensored version will feature rape, scenes of birth (resulting from m-preg sort-of) and various extremes of abuse._

_Special thanks to __The-writing-Mew__, __sakiko of soleana__, Naughtia, Iwanita, Sammywolfstar, Tolaya, __Kitt SummerIsle__, __Blood Shifter2__, __Double-ports__, __SunnySidesofBlue__, __silveryn83 and Golden Eagle for reviewing, and to those who favorited, alerted and gave kudos. _

_Bold- Comm link._

_Italics- Thoughts/memories/link speak._

_Pairings- Primarily Starscream with others, both consensually and not. Features slight Perceptor/Beachcomber. Maybe others. _

_Warnings- Rated M. Nothing really for this chapter just small hints at things. OC sparklings. _

_Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters._

_Verse- AU._

_Units of Time: Astrosecond- 1 second, Klik- 1 minute, Cycle- 1 hour, Orn- 1 day, Decacycle- 1 week, Meta-cycle- 1 month, Solar cycle- 1 year, Vorn- 1 million years._

_The sparklings are mine._

_Unbetaed._

_All mistakes are my own._

_Hope you all enjoy it._

* * *

Chapter Three- Music

Megatron tested the strength of the Autobot Stronghold several orns later, bombarding the shield Perceptor had constructed to find its weakest points. The Bots watched on their monitors as the Seekers dove through the amber skies of the coming dawn, firing missiles and lasers into the shimmering blue protecting them. The Autobot scientist had reinforced it though in the wake of a near fatal attack some short decacycles after Starscream had arrived.

The lone Seeker had solidified his place in the faction- though he hadn't accepted the role then- for many with his actions that orn. The former Decepticon had been growing closer and closer to the newly made Aerialbots, creator protocols influencing his latching on to them. He had begun to teach them some basic techniques, allowing him to fulfil his need to fly while the wary Autobots knew he had some form of supervision, and they began in turn to take him in as an extension of their group. A few one-on-one sessions with Silverbolt had given the gestalt leader a bit more confidence in the air, Starscream approaching him and the other Autobot fliers how he would later teach his sparklings to fly. In that particular battle, the gestalt had been pinned down, too injured to form Superion even if they had been able to reach each other.

Starscream had shot into the air to shield a critically wounded Fireflight, wrapping his larger frame around the Autobot and praying to Primus that his unborn sparklings would not be harmed. Thankfully, most shots were aimed at his wings, and the pain didn't seem as bad as it should have been. It was only when the former Decepticon SIC began shouting over his shoulder, lecturing his former comrades about attacking younglings and how much it went against Seeker creed, that the attack from the Coneheads had ended. Those Autobots that could watched from the ground as the three seemed to have a silent conversation with each other then they, and the other Seekers, withdrew their attack on the Aerialbots and headed for other targets.

Fireflight had clung to Starscream's neck as the older flier rushed him to the medbay, shuddering as his wings beat against the Seeker's arm in pain. Even when Ratchet came to examine him, he remained close to his new mentor, servo balled into Starscream's chassis.

That act of protection and the way Starscream had cared for the younger bot afterwards had some of the more forgiving of the older ones and most of the youngsters in the Autobot ranks letting their guards down somewhat, enough to extend some trust and offer a second chance to their former enemy.

Now Starscream watched the attack alongside them, glad his sparklings were still deep in recharge under Bumblebee's careful optic, the minibot something of an uncle figure whom the Seeker's little ones adored more with each passing orn. Sensing their contentment and his lover's reassurance in their respective links kept Starscream calm, his ruby gaze tracing the movements of his former squadron, watching unblinkingly to see if their attack was something he recognised and had taught them and so could counteract, or if the strategy was new and required further thinking upon.

Perceptor stood beside him, their energy fields intermingling in a kindly manner, born of vorns of friendship. They nodded discreetly at each other, the shield would hold for now but Starscream was reasonably sure he could help out if it didn't. Though he was not truly an Autobot at spark, he had more mechs he counted family among the faction, and so his wish to protect them outweighed his ideals and would do so until there was peace where he would truly bring them to the fore again.

Starscream's optics dipped to take in the sight of Autobot High Command, knowing they were conversing through a private comm link. Optimus stood, resolute and solid as ever, with Prowl and Jazz by his side. The Second and Third in Command of the faction, a bonded pair as everyone knew, freely inhabited each other's space and energy fields, each a constant reassuring presence for the other.

Ratchet came up behind him, squeezing Starscream's shoulder lightly and stopping at his side. On the screen, waves of white rippled across Perceptor's invention as blasts battered it. The Seeker reached out with his field, caressing the CMO's, and tentatively allowed them to interact. Affection was primarily reserved for private moments.

'Everyone inside?' Ratchet murmured, azure orbs dark and guarded.

Starscream nodded, wings fluttering in the suffocating silence only broken by the muffled crashing sounds on the screen, echoed distantly by the events they were recording outside as the vibrations travelled through the base. **Megatron will not give up… **Starscream commed the medic resignedly, trying to take solace in the comfort his partner Seeker couldn't help but stare at the wings that flashed across the sky on the monitor unconsciously looking for the old, familiar colours. But they weren't there, they never were.

It was a guilt that he could never quite let go off, in spite of everything.

Inferno quietly interrupted the flier's musings, a glitching Red Alert shivering in his arms, optics rolled back in the Security Director's helm as his engines thrummed unevenly, a continuous duff note in a normally lovely symphony.

Starscream arm stopped Ratchet from helping, 'I've got it, Prime wants you.' Pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of the medic's lip components, the Seeker left with the bonded couple. It was both a surprise and later a relief to the former Decepticon that the Autobots were so open around each other about their links to one another. While partnerships, fragging, were permitted, even encouraged for morale, spark-bonding was tacitly forbidden as being too dangerous among the Decepticon ranks.

For the Autobots, those kinds of bonds were what they fought for, so there was never any shame in them, even if it was a tactical folly. Naturally, effort was made to keep bonds beneath the enemy's radar but, in private and relatively safety, they were indulged freely and openly. Of course, the Autobots had nothing to fear from each other, not like the Cons did.

As Inferno laid Red Alert down onto a medbay berth, Starscream set to work on the Security Director's processor, deft digits tinkered to soothe the Bot's internal distress. 'What caused it?' His optics flicked to the now-recharging mech's mate.

Inferno sighed, engines revving in disquiet as he worried over his lover, 'he… panicked when one of your sparklings seemed to be missing when he was watching the cameras.' He held up a servo when Starscream froze, 'Bumblebee was holding Serenity out of view, they're fine.'

Starscream smiled as he continued to set Red Alert to rights. The SD hadn't always trusted him and with good reason, but that had been resolved when the Seeker insisted on a cortical psychic patch procedure between the two of them.

Red Alert had seen… _everything._

* * *

_As the cords were hooked up, Starscream kept his optics closed, already calling up memories that were razorblade fresh. Red Alert had spent much of the time since his arrival in an upset, glitch-inducing state of panic. If he must rely on the mech for the safety and security of his sparklings, he needed the SD fully functional._

_It felt like he lived in the Autobot medbay recently, being repaired, under observation, examinations, check-ups and on and on. _

_Still something needed to be done, there was not the time to reassure the Autobot normally, and so this was the only option remaining to him to offer. Reclining back on the berth, Ratchet's servo running along his wing soothingly as the CMO put him under, and he didn't quite know how to interpret that gesture so his appendages unconsciously twitched in unease as his sense of self briefly faded away._

_Sliding into an almost uncomfortably warm, temporary darkness, he quickly became aware of the Autobot's presence in his helm. For a moment they simply stood together, before Starscream dropped Red Alert's gaze and the scene changed, brightened shockingly on the Seeker striding through the darkened hallways of the Decepticon base, wings flaring out in alternating annoyance and anxiety._

Frag it all,_ Starscream snarled to himself,_ what could he possibly want at this cycle?

_The possibility was that his dear leader was looking for a whipping mech for recent losses and Megatron's second, as always, met requirements. It was one area where, in the Decepticon Lord's optics, Starscream never failed. _

_A flicker of nervousness came through from Red Alert but Starscream was too apprehensive himself to offer the other mech much comfort._

_Starscream paused outside Megatron's door for a moment to collect himself, then he pinged the intercom. The door slid open and the Seeker was dragged by his throat into the room without a word of greeting. The faint click of the door slipping shut seemed to boom like it had been slammed closed through his audio._

* * *

The medbay shook as a missile struck the ground adjacent to the surgery; just on the other side of the shield's boundary, and Starscream was thrown jarringly back into the present, automatically throwing his frame over his patient's in a protective manner as the Autobot structure quivered.

Moments later the all-clear siren echoed around the base, Megatron's forces had withdrawn.

An icy feeling settled in Starscream's tanks, like a cold rock suddenly coming to rest in the centre of them, his engines grating even as he sensed both his lovers making their way toward him. Spark whirling faster than it should be even for his kind, his ventilations became increasingly laboured. Cursing his former Master and all former guilt for the moment drowned as to the fate of his original trinemates, Starscream threw his frame violently back into a chair as he worked to calm his panicked systems.

Even as his relatively mild panic attack abated, the sense of foreboding increased, leaving him wearily rubbing his forehelm. Megatron must be planning something, it was the only explanation.

The unseen, unexplained threat weighed heavily on his helm for orns afterwards.

* * *

The tyrant settled back on his berth, engines humming with released charge. Skywarp trembled beside his leg, tattered wings fluttering against the berth as he cowered, curling into a tight ball. Megatron reached down and mock-comfortingly stroked the former teleporter's helm, the black and purple- though the colours were faded and stained now- mech whined like a kicked turbo-hound, sniffling softly as he tried to nuzzle at his Master's servo.

Megatron pulled it away, denying the forgiveness Skywarp always sort from him. This little flier had been among his most loyal but his fall from grace had been hard and unrecoverable from. However it ensured not destruction, that would be too merciful, but entrapment. The skies were forbidden, his and Thundercracker's abilities and comm links long since disabled… To the Decepticon army, the two Seekers had been deactivated more than a solar cycle ago, and were now scrap metal and nothing more. And yet they lived or rather, they existed. To flee meant being put on the DJD's List, unofficially of course.

Megatron's musician did so enjoy little fliers, delicate wings flexing against his servos, that even without Tarn's unwavering loyalty; he would still seek out the Seekers if they were to escape, purely for his own personal pleasure. The DJD's leader was visiting this night cycle to see how he could help his Lord retrieve their 'much missed' SIC and Megatron's 'intended bonded' from his Autobot prison. Or so went the formal story anyway.

'You should be grateful,' the Warlord murmured, tone low as Skywarp's irritating crying began to grind on his audios, 'that I selected to keep you with me this evening; you could always have had a night cycle with Tarn in your trinemate's place instead. In fact if my company is so unappealing to you, I'm sure my devoted soldier would not mind trading…'

Skywarp's dulled optics stirred to sparkling life for an astrosecond, crawling quickly up the berth onto the tyrant's chassis. 'N-no,' he whimpered, peppering kisses across Megatron's silver metal, 'please.'

Grabbing the back of the younger mech's neck, he dragged the once-flier into a devastating kiss, biting at Skywarp's worn down lip components as the Seeker trembled. 'Behave my pet,' Megatron purr-growled against his servant's mouth, 'or I will make you.'

Skywarp nodded frantically, servos sliding down his Master's frame in hard-learned, skilful movements. Even now, though the tyrant would no longer admit it, the purple and black mech pleased him, at least succeeded in bringing him to overload. But it was not enough and never would be, not after the two Seeker's betrayal of him. The idea had been to break Starscream down in order to rebuild him how the three wished him to be. Their desires had originally, if not coincided, not posed an obstruction to each other's wants.

But meta-cycles spent gradually, meticulously reconstructing the eldest flier's processor had been destroyed in a single, thoughtless act of anger. And Megatron could never forgive his counterparts in this scheme for that, Starscream was his after all and, regardless of Seeker custom; they had no right to lay a digit on his SIC without his consent.

Rage once more provoked by that line of thought, Megatron rolled them until he bore down on the slighter frame, silencing Skywarp's shriek of pain at being crushed by reclaiming his pet's lip components, one large servo reaching down between the smaller mech's legs where an unprotected valve waited.

Distantly, if one tilted their helm to listen, a sweet melody was being crooned accompanied by what might have been a Praxian violin playing and the sound of terrified, agonised screams.

* * *

_I would be remiss if I didn't mention Bibliotecaria_D's Pharma/Tarn fic 'Deal Closure' on archiveofourown- it is wonderfully written and influenced me to include Tarn and the DJD in this story._

_Thanks for reading and please review. _


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